The New York high school student who made thousands of dollars selling unauthorized white iPhone 4 conversion kits said in an interview that he learned of Apple's lawsuit against him through media reports.

Apple manufacturing partner Foxconn has announced the temporary closure of all of its polishing workshops for inspections, with the aim of preventing the reoccurrence of an explosion at a Chengdu, China plant that killed three workers last week.

An explosion last week at an iPad 2 production plant in Chengdu, China, is not expected to have a major impact on Apple, as less than 20 percent of production volume is said to have come from the plant.

Two workers were killed in a large explosion Friday at a Foxconn manufacturing plant in Chengdu, China, that assembles Apple's iPad 2. Apple has issued a statement acknowledging that it will look into the matter.

The U.S. Department of Justice will launch an in-depth investigation into AT&T's proposed acquisition of T-Mobile USA, a new report claims. Meanwhile, more evidence has surfaced that Foxconn will soon begin producing Apple's iPhones and iPads in Brazil. Also, a new job posting from Apple indicates the company is explicitly looking for someone to revamp the Maps app for iOS.

Apple will reportedly add Chimei Innolux Corp. as a third supplier of touch panel sensors and displays for the iPad 2, as the company works to secure more components and boost production of the hot-selling device.

Apple's manufacturing partner Foxconn is reportedly considering a $12 billion investment in new facilities in Brazil, and also apparently plans to begin building iPad units in South America by this November.

Apple, along with its Taiwanese manufacturing partner Foxconn, has stockpiled enough components to continue to assemble new iPad 2s for at least another 2 to 3 weeks before they'd face a stockout that would halt production should the situation in Japan not improve, according to a published report.

A suggestion that slow growth at manufacturer Foxconn could be a bad sign for Apple has been called out by one financial institution, which instead asserts that the connection between the two companies is limited.

Apple has issued its 2011 "Supplier Responsibility" report, in which the iPhone maker reveals it terminated business with a facility that employed 42 underage workers, and explains how it responded to suicides at a Foxconn plant and n-hexane exposure to 137 workers.

Cybermart, a retail subsidiary of Apple partner Foxconn, is planning an aggressive expansion in Greater China after winning distribution rights for Apple products, according to a new report. Samsung was unable to capitalize on its iPad and iPhone challengers, posting its lowest quarterly profit in six quarters. Finally, a Microsoft spokesperson said the company was "looking into" a Mac App Store version of its Office productivity suite.

A consortium of environmentally focused groups in China called out Apple on Thursday for allegedly failing to properly oversee suppliers, accusing the iPhone maker of fostering health and safety problems in factories.

Cases purported to be for Apple's next-generation iPad that were posted to a Chinese trade site are being removed after the site received a "legitimate takedown request," possibly lending credence to their authenticity, according to a new report.